My thoughts on education and life in general

The New Look of Activism

Mar 24, 2010

Okay, my comments in Facebook are long enough to inspire a blog entry. Better get this over with before I go back to my work.

There has been a lot of nasty things going on in UP to the point that I am willing to burn my UP centennial jacket in protest. Some issues are being raised in this blog, but I reserve my judgment until I hear from the other side. Based on the rumors I’ve heard, both sides are in the wrong. And honestly, I cannot make a sound judgment if I am not there in the first place.

However, watching this video of student protesters hurling paint on the UP Los Banos chancellor is going too far. This is not the first time that it happened: a few years ago, student protesters threw eggs at Esperon for being the head of the Armed Forced of the Philippines.

Come on, UP activists, show a little bit of class. Issues that are detrimental to the development of UP as an academic institution are piling up, but that is no excuse for acting like a bunch of barbarians. And you are actually wondering why people are not joining your cause? People aren’t taking you guys seriously because of your actions. People are not buying your circular arguments and half-truths. People can see through your hypocrisy, accusing your enemies of dirty tactics when you are doing it yourselves.

Some people would probably cry and say, “Prove it.” I would gladly respond, “Prove me wrong.” And golly, how I would like to be proven wrong in this case.

In any case, even my friends in Facebook who are former activists are disappointed with what happened. And I quote,

During my time, being an activist required principled choices and massive brain-power. No matter how much angst-fueled rage is welling up, restraint and diplomacy would still win at the end of the day.

I used to say that I am not surprised that the Philippines is in deep shit. UP pa lang, nagpa-praktis na.

Advertisements

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Alam mo tinabargs, i had a chance to dialogue with the former activist who threw an egg at General Esperon. Did you know that soon after that she left UP and continued to do mass work in an Urban Poor organization (Kadamay) sa may riles sa Manila? Nagulat na lang siya na she suddenly found herself with the NPA in Quezon and Aurora province. She spent 8 years with them fighting or the Communist Movement. di siya nakatapos ng pag-aaral at yung mga kasama niyang mga isko at iska na namundok di na niya alam kung patay ba o buhay pa.

She came down last year and surrendered to the AFP. She shared with us her experiences and her journey. In the end, she realized that what they were fighting for can never be achieved. Ngayon etong si “Maricris” is speaking in schools telling her story so that others will not be set on the same path as her. Iyan ang advocacy niya. I admire her courage and her spirit. Ganyan ang mga pumapasok sa NPA. Violent people and violent activists.

Tina, I really like your blog! 🙂 Don’t burn your UP Centennial Jacket, it will release CFCs into the atmosphere. I suppose there should be someone in the higher ranks of the Movement who should be the voice of reason, amidst impassioned campaign meetings.

hi, tina. i’m ma’am emy. i teach eng 1, eng 2, eng 10, and eng 102 at uplb.
what i saw on tv last night scared me. i couldn’t believe those students destroying pup property and hurling paint at the uplb chancellor are really state and national university students. these “iskolars ng bayan” are supposed to be “educated” people, but the vandalism and the disrespect for authority that i saw last night are not marks of educated people. i regret that the tax i have paid for more than 40 years is being used to support this lawless batch of students. activism has reached its lowest level.